Universal Boss On Bourne 5, Huntsman 2

Universal chairman Adam Fogelson recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for an extensive interview about the cinematic success stories and failures of the studio since his promotion to chairman in 2009.

The company is coming off its best year yet thanks to the highly profitable trio of “Ted,” “The Lorax” and “Les Miserables,” and Fogelson says the studio’s plans for the future will continue down similar lines of a solid slate of profitable hits rather than mega-budget but risky tentpoles.

In terms of future projects, he says a “Wicked” movie is happening “sooner rather than later,” and discussions are underway for an “Identity Thief” sequel. He also says:

Fifty Shades of Grey“I don’t believe that [author EL James] had any interest in going to a studio where rushing it into production was the vision. I don’t believe that the second or third film would have benefited from that strategy. And I think that there are totally legitimate questions about what this book is as a movie. I will tell you that it is an absolute priority for us. It’s conceivable that we could be ready to release it as early as next summer.”

Snow White and the Huntsman 2“We’re actively developing the movie right now with Kristen’s character central, as well as the Huntsman role. We think that for a first movie out of the gate to do basically $400 million worldwide, there is a lot of opportunity. I don’t think Rupert [Sanders, director] is pursuing the next Snow White as a directing opportunity.”

Bourne 5“The point of the last movie was to create a universe, a world and characters that give us a lot of freedom and flexibility in how we go forward. Yeah, the movie didn’t perform the way the last one did. It also didn’t cost what the last one did. It performed more along the lines of how the first one did. I absolutely see us doing more Bourne, 100 percent yes. Matt has talked about the possibility of coming back, and we totally respect that and are excited if and when he wants to have conversations. But I think the last movie gave us a big bunch of options to pursue a next chapter.”